Friday Finds

Ah it's been a long week. My Mom's been here to look after baby Shane, as the daycare center is closed for its annual holiday, and still I'm tired. She leaves tonight and that leaves one more week of work and then we too get to go off on vacation. I can't wait!

I already started to put together a reading list for when we're away. I'm not sure how much reading I'll actually get done, but we're going by car so space isn't so much of an issue. I have 10 books so far... and I should really only take a few since there are loads of second-hand bookstores in Wales so I'm sure to get loads of new stuff too...Sigh.

In the meantime, here are some titles that caught me eye this week.

Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker
Why? I saw it in Nymeth's 1930s Challenge Round-up and Andreea's review made it sound so entertaining!

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers
Why? Another one from Nymeth's 1930s Challenge Round-up. Margot at Joyfully Retired reviewed it, plus it's one of Nymeth's 2010 favorites, plus I've been meaning to read something by Sayers forever.

Address Unknown by Katherine Kressman Taylor
Why? Also from Nymeth's 1930s Challenge Round-up, this one seems to be one of those hidden gems. Fence at Susan Hated Literature read it and she says that it gives you a completely different perspective on the Nazis and World War II. Like Nymeth, I also like books that go past the 'black-and-white' explanations, plus World War II fascinates me, so I guess I absolutely have to get my hands on this one.

Uncle Tungsten by Oliver Sachs
Why? Eva mentioned it as a good science book and I liked the comments on Amazon. I've also been wanting to read his The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.

* Friday Finds is a weekly event hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. Go on, join in the fun!

Four Month Reading Challenge

The Four Month Reading Challenge is hosted by Martina of She Read a Book and is already on its 4th edition. That's because it's so much fun, I'm sure! I've never joined before, but I'm finding new enthusiasm for joining challenges at the moment so here I am.

The challenge runs from July 1 to October 31 2010.

Just read books from the categories below and earn points! I list some possibilities below, we'll see how much actually gets done. :-)

Points so far: 75 as of 6 October


5 Point Challenges

Read a chick lit book

• Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
• Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin

Read a name with a proper name in the title

• Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson

Read a historical fiction book

• The Luxe by Anna Godbersen

Read a book with a one word title

• Dracula by Bram Stoker

Read a book made into a movie

• Eat, Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

10 Point Challenges

Read a book with a Civil War theme (any country)

Read a Biblical fiction book

Read a hardcover book

• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Read a book about a king or queen

Read a book set in France


15 Point Challenges

Read a book by an author you’ve never read before

• Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

Read a biography or autobiography

Read a book with a number in the title

Read any book and then post a review

• The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

Read any book but read it outside


20 Point Challenges

Read a book in a series AND the one after it

• Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
• Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

Read a book that was a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Read a book considered Christian fiction

Read a book from The Modern Library Top 100

• The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Read a book by an author born in July, August, September or October

• The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen (born August 17)
• Agatha Christie (born September 15)
• Fannie Flagg (born September 21)
• Ursula LeGuin (born October 21)

The Piano Teacher by Janice.Y.K. Lee

Beautiful. I really enjoyed this book. It was the first regular novel I've read in a while, and I was totally lost in the story. I liked the writing, the characters, the storyline, pretty much everything.

The Piano Teacher takes place in Hong Kong, going back and forth between the Second World War and the Japanese occupation and the 1950s and British rule. The part set during the war tells the story of Will, a young Brit who ends up in Hong Kong right before war erupts. There he meets Trudy, a Eurasian beauty with a dynamite character and a survival instinct. Their story is one of wartime reality that I hope neither I nor my children ever have to experience.

The part set in the 1950s is about Claire, an English woman who follows her husband to Hong Kong and who ends up finding herself there. She meets Will too and becomes parts of the post-war relationships and vendettas that form in the community there.

I think part of the reason I liked this book so much is that I've never read anything set in Hong Kong and certainly didn't know anything about what happened there during the war. I found that side of it fascinating, the Japanese occupation and the Westerners living in Hong Kong during that time simply never entered my thoughts before. There is so much fascinating history there.

But aside from that, I thought that the author did a great job describing the realities of war - how some people change and how some just show their true colors. The fact that we're all the same no matter what time period we belong to is so apparent, it seems so simple.

My edition had a short interview with the author at the end and I found that really interesting. Lee is Korean but grew up in Hong Kong so she has a different perspective on the place. My favorite part of the interview was when she said that the book took her 5 years to write and by the time it was finished she had 4 kids! How you can write something so good with 4 kids in the house is beyond me. I'm impressed! :-)

Challenges: Orbis Terrarum, 2010 Countdown Challenge, What's in a Name 3